Sebastian Yew, a former student council vice-president at INTI University, and Shoandeep Radhakrishnan, the Monash University Student Association (Musa) president, said the policy is unfair to those hoping to qualify for a waiver on their study loans.
Yew said the policy would affect students from financially challenged backgrounds the hardest, especially those who are forced to enrol in private universities after failing to secure spots in public institutions.
“Many students at private institutions are working as hard as their public university peers, but with the added burden of managing heavy financial burdens,” he told FMT.
“Giving such exemptions (on loan waiver) to students from public universities only does not reflect the spirit of equal opportunity to education for all,” he added.
Recently, higher education minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said the suspension of the loan waiver for students from private universities is to enable the ministry to reassess the definition of “first class” across both public and private universities to ensure fairness.
The suspension is slated for 2026.
Shoandeep warned that the policy could discourage students from pursuing tertiary education if they fail to secure places in public universities.
“Academic excellence should be judged by performance, not the institution’s labels. By making exemptions based on university type, the system indirectly punishes students for circumstances often beyond their control,” he told FMT.
While he acknowledged that the government is concerned about grading inconsistencies between public and private universities, he also pointed out that any assessment based on the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) would enable PTPTN to evaluate students fairly.
“If there are inconsistencies, the solution is to standardise, not exclude. Many private universities are regulated by MQA, which ensures academic standards are upheld,” Shoandeep said.
He added that the move sends a “disheartening message” to students who have worked hard to achieve first-class honours.
“We’re contributing to the same national workforce and research standards. Our hard work deserves the same recognition, doesn’t it?”
On reforms, Shoandeep suggested that a unified national benchmark be set for first-class honours across all universities and incorporating merit, equity, and accessibility into PTPTN’s exemption system.
“An exclusion like this raises the risk of widening the gap between privileged and underprivileged students and contributes to the brain drain that we see now,” he added.
Academic Rosli Mahat of Pergerakan Tenaga Akademik Malaysia (Gerak) suggested that PTPTN incentives be tied to performance.
“For instance, we can give more to the top 20% of the graduates, followed by the top 40%, top 60% and top 80%,” he added.